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We had a great show season this year as a club, a first show season for the Newly established “Built To Last” Car club. Just uploading some pics of the Jetta at the shows this year, with it’s freshly re-trimmed seats.

It’s all systems go for getting a house now, hopefully we’ll have one sorted by mid next year, so the Jetta can be garaged and I can start to tidy it up a bit.

I got my seats back from Liz, and have finished designing her logo, and helped out with her Facebook page too. The seats look fantastic, when I got them back it was dark, and I still attempted to fit them, but in the end I had to wait until the morning. They’ve transformed the car completely, the old seats were in terrible condition, and now the whole of the interior is pretty much mint.

Show season is at it’s peak at the moment, there’s something to do every weekend. We visited Stanford Hall VW show, I left the Jetta at home though. We also visited Dubs Mania at Weston Park, a pretty decent local show. I popped over to my friends garage to have a bit of work done, mainly a cv boot that I couldn’t do/be arsed to do. He also tightened my rear wheel bearings and strapped up my exhaust.

Dubs Mania:

Next to Phil’s freshly painted van.

Just before we set off, looking nice and cleanA whole bog roll on the fire, this turned out to be a bad idea!

At my mate Newbies garage getting the CV boot etc done :

Recently we went to Deva Dubs at Shrewsbury showground, which turned out to be a bit of a nightmare! When we met for Deva at the Spread Eagle on the Friday, we had heard that there was an accident on the M54 and another accident near Shrewsbury. Planning the route was a bit of a lottery, but the general thought was to take the A5 rather than the M54. Being well prepared I didn’t have my sat nav with me, so I roped Phil in to leading the convoy, and told him to go down the A5. In the convoy was Phil in his T4, Myself and Milly in the Jetta, Ben in his Polo, Spud and his Mrs in their Polo, Dan in his T25 and Tom in his T25. We left and headed into Telford… Shortly after this I followed Phil onto the M54, with everyone but Tom and Dan following also. We immediately hit traffic, and were stuck on the M54 for around 1 1/2 hours. The Jetta was constantly getting too hot, so I had to keep switching the fan on to cool it down. When we eventually got close to getting off the motorway the Jetta’s temperature was right on the end of the scale and flashing at me. Luckily I managed to get it to cool down again once I got moving. We left the motorway, and, directing Ben, Spud and liz via text message, immediately hit traffic again. At this point I’d had enough, as had Phil who decided to try and go round. Following Phil, due to lack of sat nav, we drove down what can only be described as a footpath. The Jetta was struggling to idle as it was so bumpy. There was mud/dust everywhere, and the track was constantly narrowing. We drove for around a mile before having to turn around (due to the road being a dead end, as shown on the sign at the beginning of the road). I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Unfortunately, as we had been directing Ben and co via text message, they also made the same mistake. We then drove for around 10 miles down a narrow lane, the kind of lane that you always seem to luckily meet people coming the other way at a point where you can just about get past. It was at this point however, that the Jetta decided to cut out on me, luckily starting up ok after. After all of this agro, we eventually ended up back on the same road we had initially turned off, only a bit further down. Keeping my eye on the temperature, and performing a 5 point turn on a dual carriageway in the middle of Shrewsbury, closely followed by Spud and Ben doing the same, we made it to the show! Milly steered the car as I pushed it through the gate, it had cut out again… I got it started as the Deva crew gave us our programme, but my tickets were locked in the boot, so I had to turn it off again to get them. 3 and a half hours into a 35 minute journey, we made it. We had a good weekend in the end, myself and Phil showed the cars both days.

My uncle bought a Polo mk2 Saloon whilst he was there!

Since my last post I’ve not done too much to the Jetta myself maintenance wise. I replaced some more fuel pipe in the engine bay, as it had started to crack, I also replaced the fuel filter that has been on the car since I had it. I was really surprised that there wasn’t much shit in the filter from the tank. I’ve had a bit of drama with the fuel pumps but the old one seems to be fixed now, from just tightening the bolts around the seal. I also plucked up the courage to spend £3.50 on a window guard, which no doubt will be “chavvy” in a matter of weeks.

After visiting Bus Types in Oswestry, but missing Big Bang as it was so cold last year, I’ve got the bug for the show season again!

The main thing that has happened since I last posted is a new car club! Built To Last. I’ve designed the start of a brand, and myself and other vw enthusiasts meet up every fortnight for a bit of banter. We’re hoping to hit some of the shows as a club later in the year.

A quick snap outside work next to a friends lowered vivaro!

Also, the very tired seats have gone to be re-trimmed. Much needed to finish the otherwise pretty tidy interior up! I managed to get 12 metres of grey tweed off Ebay, which will be more than enough. Once the seats are done I may look at semi trimming the door cards to match. I should be getting the seats back in a couple of weeks!Unfortunately this has meant that the beads had to go. Luckily my cousin is keeping the legacy going, and has had them for his Polo mk2.

I managed to get a bargain off Ebay, a (pretty untidy) chrome strip bumper, still unsure what to do with it, and a box of tricks. In the box was 7 side trims, kick plates, cigarette lighter, countless seals, brand new oil filter, headlight bulb, tidy winders, a scraper seal (the one I needed) and a shit load of other bits. All in with the bumper I paid £2.04!

Old shitty kick plates

New kick plates in, much better.

New scraper seal in place!

Better winders!

My neighbour decided he was going to cut down his hedge whilst the Jetta was parked up and put a gate behind the car to bring his wheelbarrow through. Needless to say the shit hit the fan, and the gate is now a new fence.

Birthday time! 26… The lady bought me a shit load of cleaning products from Cleanyourcar, and my detailing equipment was ready to roll, I practised on my brothers car with the polisher and then went at the Jetta with it. With good results.

Milly even had a go! The Jetta was left at my mates mom and dads house whilst new Toyo tyres (from abroad due to not being able to get them here) were fitted. Iron X doing it’s thing… After a full polish, glaze and wax, not bad for a single stage paint.

That was it! I was ready for Bus Types! I’d filled the car up the night before, and was halfway through packing it up when my neighbour pointed out a fuel leak. After some investigation and a lot of swearing it looked like the fuel return (which is blocked off at the carb) had filled up due to the tank being full. As it was perished it was leaking at the fuel sender, starting the car up with the pipe off proved it was definitely the return, and it was bodged to get me there with no issues!

Sodden pipes…Just before we set off to Bus Types, at which Bessie the Bay won Best Bay! This was the feed! Removed at a later date and replace with some new pipe from my mate. Sorted!I popped into Autobrite Direct in Stoke on Trent with my mate Carl, to have a look around, and came away with some tyre gel and shampoo’s.

The only other thing since I last posted is I’ve spoken to yet another of the Jetta’s past owners, he bought the car in 2006 for £400! knocked the paint back and added wooden vinyl. Not to my taste but still pretty cool. He then had the car sprayed in 2007 and sold it.

Here’s a pic of the Jetta next to the F-type that I was taken out for spin in! Epic car!

I haven’t done a lot on the Jetta of late, running the business is more important at the moment. The Jetta is covered up during the week and given a good run every weekend. I have recently got the CD player working again, a bad earth was the cause. I sorted the Hazards/ indicator issue out, with a new switch and a new fuse. I have also replaced the boot lock seal as I’m pretty sure it was still the original. After christmas it’s time to start saving for a house, but any spare money will go on the Jetta, front valance straightening and top mount checking are on the to do list. The top mount cover won’t clip on the drivers side as the bolt protrudes too far…

So the show season is over, fair to say that’s the most amount of shows I have been to in one year. from Ultimate dubs to Dub Freeze (which was shit). Since I last posted we had the Retro Dubs cruise, around 40 cars turned up, mostly VW but some V8’s etc. I designed and supplied some memorial stickers to sell at the cruise to raise money for the foundation and raised £75.

After the cruise I managed to save the day, and jump start a club members Bay window!

I Finally got round to fitting the rear door seal, which means the door doesn’t rattle when driving along!

We visited VW Action 2013 and I wasn’t going to show the Jetta, but eventually went for it, gave the car a quick once over and added it to the daily driver competition. I was massively suprised to win a top 10 daily driver award.

The final camping show of the year was the LDF Transport show, just 3 miles down the road from my house. A nice quiet show which meant a good drink up and a laugh around the fire pit.

I took my clocks out to re-tape the symbols panel in place and when I put them back nothing seemed to work. I found that the circuit board on the back of the clocks was damaged, so my dad soldered them back together which seems to have worked.

Some photo’s of the Jetta with family/friends cars, and scraping the grass at a local show at Baggeridge Country Park.

I now have to sort out an electrical problem, which means the hazards manage to make all the dashboard lights flash, the indicators refuse to work, and if I turn the car off I can take the key out without the car actually turning off. I’ve bought a new hazard switch as that has been an issue for a while, whilst on VW heritage I also bought a boot lock seal, and strut top covers.

So I’ve not updated my blog for a while, we have been trying to get to as many shows as possible and enjoy the nice weather in the Jetta. We’ve been to Big Bang, Dubs Mania, Deva Dubs, Camper Jam, South Staffs Hot Rod and Custom Show, and we went to Tatton Park yesterday. The Jetta has got a lot of attention which has been nice! We also try to make any local meets with Retro Dub Club, and have the club cruise coming up this wednesday.

Since my last post it’s not been all fun and games, there have been a few issues with the Jetta. The most annoying issue is a build up of faded patches on the roof, bonnet and boot. They took some getting off, I presumed it was down to the new Glaze I had bought (Poorboys Diamond Glaze), but looking back I think it was something to do with high amounts of pollen + rain + hot temps. I clayed the car, then cleansed the paint and added Natty’s paste wax, and fingers crossed it hasn’t happened again. Here the patches can be seen, it was actually much worse than it looks.

Yesterday all patch-free, beading nicely after a drive back from Tatton Park

The other issue I have had is water getting in to the footwell again. With a bit more detective work (me sitting in stripped out car whilst dad sprays it with the hose) it turns out the majority of water was getting in through a factory hole in the subframe, which I think I may have unearthed when cleaning out the engine bay in the past, whoops.

The water was getting in through a small hole by the inner sill, I have since blasted in the sill with waxoyl to keep it from rusting, and have started to cover the factory hole in the subframe to stop any more water getting in. So far I have fixed plastic to the hole which I will then cover in sealant that can be sprayed onto. From the factory this hole was just taped over and covered in underseal!

The hole, quite a common issue apparently.

Water was filling up in the footwell, but I couldn’t see where it was coming in from, it turned out it was coming underneath the underseal which had lifted.

The Orange isn’t rust, it seemed to be a residue from the underseal.

All Cleaned up!

The hole was covered with a small piece of sheet plastic, that was bonded on to allow a waterproof barrier, this will be covered in sealant, and smoothed for painting.

I had to quickly get the interior back into the car for Tatton Park, so Repairs had to take a break. Car looked great at Tatton though, just looking forward to improving it and (fingers crossed) winning some trophies at some point. There were 4 other Mk1 Jetta’s at Tatoon Park, the first show where I have seen another one whilst I’ve had mine. The Beige Jetta Pictured was immaculate, 12’500 miles on the clock, all original, it won my classes trophy.

A new battery meant that the car was running fine! A carb leak was sorted by carbcare.co.uk a really nice bloke from Lichfield. As the fuel return was blocked off, he fashioned a pipe that returned any pressure/fuel into the tank rather than forcing it through the carb needle when the engine was shut off after a run. It’s been great ever since.

It’s nice to have the car start every time, and also to have chance to make some changes that I want to make, rather than have to make.

So since my last post I have:

Continued to add countless amounts of Diamond Glaze.

Added black plates.

Added a new battery, no pic as phone has lost it somehow.

New plugs – NGK instead of Champion,

Tidied the boot as it was filthy

Removed the horrible door armour plates

Carefully removed the black paint that had been sprayed onto the waistline trim to take them back to black/chrome rather than all black. (Photo take at first show and shine – Dubs Mania at Weston Park 2nd June)

I have also re-painted the bumpers as the paint was flaking off! She’s surprisingly clean underneath the bumper so that’s good!